Cryotherapy Review

I have recently returned from competing at the IBJJF World Masters. This was an awesome experience made even better by the great team of British athletes that were there and the help and support from my American friends. It was a really great event and ran pretty smoothly considering the number of athletes competing. Whilst out there I had the chance to experiment with a couple of new things. Now I have returned to normality, what ever that is I thought I would share them with you.

Before Mrs Munki and I went to Vegas we spent a few days training at The Garage in Redondo. If you are ever in the area I cannot recommend this place enough. Melissa’s technical classes are great, but even the Open Mats are an amazing learning environment. Even in the few days we were there I learnt some really useful stuff. Some of which I even managed to use a week later at the competition.

Whilst in Redondo we had arranged a visit to Beach City Cryo. This was mainly because I just wanted to try out cryotherapy. This is not easily available in the UK and I thought I would take the opportunity whilst I could. When I was looking to book it they also offered compression therapy, which is also something new so I thought why not.After a really good session at the Garage we made are way to Beach City Cryo. We thought post training would be a really good time to get the most benefit. The owners were super welcoming and their facility was great. They were very reassuring in respect of the safety processes around the cryotherapy and the compression. We did the compression therapy first. After some discussion with the owners we went for the compression therapy first.

This consisted of putting two leg length heart duty boots/socks and zipping them all the way up to my groin. These are then connected to air pumps that slowly inflate the boots/socks. At full inflation there is a reasonable amount of pressure on your legs. I was advised that this was adjustable and could go higher or lower for comfort. I was happy with the mid point where I was. The inflating process starts in the foot area and works its way up your leg. So the effect is a very powerful all at once leg massage. We had booked this for an hour and surprisingly the time passed really quickly.

Next was the cryo therapy. To do this I stripped down to my underwear and had to put insulating socks and mittens on. Obviously for safety purpose to protect my extremities. The chamber you go into is a really large tube. The front half is the door and as you step in you stand on a moveable platform. The cooling process is via liquid nitrogen vapour. Obviously I can’t breathe this, so the platform raised me above the vapour enough to breathe properly. The session lasted three minutes, which was enough I think. Mrs Munki was struggling a little in the last 20/30 seconds. But as I have cold showers post training, this was not as much of a shock for me. The cold feeling does not last that long once you get out of the chamber. I was definitely glad of the socks though!

Prior to these therapies I was struggling a little shifting my last few pounds of weight following the flight. When I weighed myself the morning after the therapies these stubborn pounds had gone, which was great and meant I could relax a little. I am assuming it was the compression therapy that had the biggest effect on this. But the combination of the two may have kick started something. Both of these therapies are something I would definitely consider doing again, especially after a long flight.

I have since found the only place in the North West of England that provides private access to cryo therapy. It is too expensive to do on a regular basis, but I would consider it pre and post competition. As I can see it helping with speeding up competition recovery, especially for an Old Munki.

I have to say a big congratulations and thank you to Melissa Haueter for coaching Mrs Munki through her matches, whilst I got ready for mine in my usual introverted way. Also her support during my matches really helped ease any nerves I may have had. All the day after winning her own gold medal. THANK YOU!!!